There's no good Water Pokemon on Route 1
by EditorFin
Summary: One Shot. What if Misty wasn't there at the beginning of Ash and Pikachu's journey?


**Hello there readers. Fairly simple here, just a what if situation where Misty wasn't there because, let's face it, there's no really good water Pokemon on Route 1. I release this as chapter 1 a couple of months ago initially as this was going to be the start of a series but then I realised I'm lazy and I really didn't have the patience for it, so more than likely you'll just see a couple of one-shots here and there from me. Anyway have fun reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon but as of now I do own a copy of Pokémon X!**

**There's no good Water Pokemon on Route 1**

Ash sat down on the bench, outside of the ruined Pokemon Center, looked down at his hands and sighed. He couldn't believe he had a Pokemon for less then a day and already it was injured.

When his Pikachu jumped over his shoulder to face the pack of Spearow head on he could of swore his heart stopped for a second. How could he be so stupid, the first lesson he had learned from Professor Oak was to never ever approach wild Pokemon without a Pokemon of his own. True, he technically had a Pokemon with him but a disobeying Pokemon was just as bad as no Pokemon at all.

He knew he should have taken a few days to bond with Pikachu but his damn rival, Gary Oak, went ahead with his stupid car and he just felt like he was getting left behind before he had even started his own journey.

Ash jolted up sharply, making his dark hair flip out of in front his eyes, when he realised something. He hadn't even checked Pikachu's moves on his Pokedex. How could he be so stupid. For some reason he had gone against everything he learnt over the past six months from watching Professor Oaks learner trainer channel. To be honest he didn't really want to watch it but his Mom made him watch it until he had learnt the minimum he needed to survive on his own, which included how to use a map and basic cooking classes, alongside Pokemon lessons obviously.

Ash brought out his Pokedex and flipped it open. He started looking through it, hoping that he could at least do something useful while waiting for Nurse Joy to be finished with with his Pokemon. He scrolled down to his acquired Pokemon list and there sat his lonely Pikachu at the top of the list. He pressed enter and the only data that came up was it's name, height and weight. Apparently he had to scan Pikachu first before he was able to learn its moves.

Ash sighed again and started seeing what features his Pokedex had available. He went back to the start menu and looked at what options were available to him. His eyes widened when he realised that there were more options than what was just on the start screen, He looked at his options and he realised how invaluable that his Pokedex could be. It was amazing, it could be used as a normal phone, an alarm, a map and even able to be used to capture short bits of video, which he realised could have been very helpful when he saw that fiery bird Pokemon earlier.

This was including the things he had already learnt about it, for instance it could gain data on a Pokemon just from scanning it for a few seconds. It also contained all the information on Pokemon from Kanto. Unfortunately, Ash was still a rookie trainer so he wasn't allowed the upgrade version which contained all known Pokemon across all the regions and let him swap Pokemon from his party and Professor Oaks ranch.

"Ash Ketchum!" A voice called from the broken entrance of the Pokemon Center.

Ash looked towards who was calling him and it was the pretty pink haired nurse who ran the Pokemon Center.

"Your Pikachu has recovered and is waiting for you inside" Joy said kindly.

Ash jumped up and ran inside startling Nurse Joy who jumped back out of his way.

"Hmph, first Team Rocket attacks and now impatient trainers are pushing me out of the way. What has the world come to?"

Ash ignored her in a rush to see his Pikachu as his mind went back to earlier that day when he had stumbled toward the Center with his injured Pokemon wrapped in his arms. Unfortunately ever since he dragged himself and Pikachu out of the river he had been forcing himself towards Viridian City and someone who could help him.

But Ash's bad luck continued as he saw a half destroyed building with a battered sign that had Pok*mo* Ce**er printed across it. When Ash talked to the worried people out in front of the building he managed to discover that some Pokemon thieves had tried robbing Nurse Joy of the Pokemon in her care. Fortunately the Pikachu, that were used as emergency power, managed to fend off the thieves by combining their Thundershocks to blast them away from the building. This also caused the ceiling to be destroyed but luckily no Pokemon were taken and all of the medical equipment was undamaged.

Ash had to wait for about an hour for all the Pikachu to rest so the treatment room had enough power to help his Pokemon. Nurse Joy assured him, while her assistant Pokemon Chansey pulled Pikachu into the room, that it would be fine but it didn't stop Ash from worrying.

While the worrying trainer was waiting Ash called his mother on the one working wall phone. She had heard the news about the thieves in Viridian and was pacing in front of the TV waiting for more news apparently. Ash assured her that he was fine but Pikachu was hurt and he would call her when he had more news.

Ash drew himself out of his memory when he a yellow blur jumped into his arms. He looked down into his arms and saw the happy face of his newly healed Pikachu and smiled back joyously. Ash closed his eyes and hugged his Pokemon close to his chest, thanking Mew that he was OK.

"I'm so glad your okay Pikachu." Ash whispered as he brought him up to his shoulder.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried as he nuzzled his cheek against his trainers.

"I'm so sorry for putting you in danger like that. I should have never thrown that rock at an unknown Pokemon, I ignored everything I had learnt before becoming a trainer all because I was jealous that my rival was getting ahead of me and I went off on my journey before we were ready as a team. I mean I should have talked to you before I went off like that all hot-headed. I mean my Mom is always telling me to calm down and think before I do anything but I didn't and that got you hurt! I should have never done..." Ash ranted as he tried to convey his apology.

"PIKACHUUU!" Pikachu cried as he used Thundershock on his babbling trainer.

Pikachu walked over to his charred trainer and licked his cheek affectionately both in apology and showing his trainer that everything was okay now.

Ash smiled at Pikachu and hugged his Pokemon again as Nurse Joy smiled at the unsuspecting pair as her female cuteness sensors went to maximum as she squealed at the two of them. The two of them jumped up and scratched the back of their heads in embarrassment and blushed at the fact they were caught having an unmanly moment in public.

"Thanks Nurse Joy for healing my Pikachu, I appreciate it." Ash said after recovering quickly from his embarrassment.

"Don't worry Mr Ketchum, it is my job after all!" Nurse Joy replied while giggling.

"Well, still, it's would've been impolite to not thank you. My Mom would've grounded me for not thanking someone who helped me."

"You are very welcome then."

Nurse Joy walked back to her desk and continued with her paperwork with a smile on her face.

Ash grinned at his first Pokemon and then remembered what he had been thinking about a few minutes earlier.

"Alright Pikachu, I can't believe I forgot to do this earlier but my Pokedex can scan your move set. Come on buddy, just stand in front of me and give me a second."

Ash flipped open his Pokedex and pointed it at his Pokemon for a few seconds when it beeped and came up with a picture and some information next to it. Ash was then startled when the voice he had heard earlier, when it was lecturing him about Ratata's, spoke.

**Pikachu. Electric Type. The Mouse Pokemon. Ability is Static. This Pikachu knows the moves: Growl, Thundershock, Tail whip, Thunder Wave, Quick Attack and Volt Tackle. **

"Wow Pikachu! You are much better then I though you were. You are going to be the best Pikachu EVER!"

Pikachu pretended to brush dust off of his shoulder and pumped his pretend muscles up as Nurse Joy looked over at Ash with annoyance.

"Sshh, I have some extremely scared Pokemon in the Center still. I don't need loud noises to frighten them any more then they already are." Joy scolded him.

"Sorry Nurse Joy, won't happen again" Ash apologized.

Ash then looked over to his Pikachu and lowered his arm down to his level so it could jump up to his shoulder. After Pikachu had done so, Ash turned his head toward his friend and asked.

"So Pikachu, are you ready to go?"

"Pika!" Pikachu smiled and nodded towards his trainer.

"Okay well we have to go to the mart and then we can head to Viridian forest. According to Professor Oak, there are hundreds of bug types in the forest. The first gym is a rock type gym though so I don't know how helpful they will be" Ash told his Pokemon as he started walking towards the mart.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu looked at Ash in confusion

"Gyms?" Ash asked, Pikachu nodded in confirmation "Well there are eight gyms around Kanto all which give away a badge upon beating them. Each gym specializes in a specific Pokemon type and once we beat all eight we can take on the Indigo League. You got that so far?"

Pikachu thought about it for a second before nodding asking Ash to continue

"Okay well the Indigo League is where all the trainers who have beaten the eight gyms compete to see who is the best out of all of them. I'm not sure if this is the only prize given to the winner but I know that they are given a chance to fight the Elite Four and the Champion."

"Pika?"

"Oh. Well those five trainers are 5 previous winners of the Indigo League who have competed against previous Elite Fours individually to earn their place. So, _when_ we win the league, if we beat the first of the Elite Four we can then take that Elite Fours place. I don't think we will ever take a place on the Elite Four, It would be too boring not being able to travel anywhere. Right Pikachu?"

"Pika!"

"I know, it would be terrible. Anyway here we are."

Ash came out of the mart ten minutes later with a bigger new backpack which was bulging with the items he had just bought.

"Alright, we have enough items to make it through Viridian forest a few times over. With all the bug type Pokemon in there we are definitely going to need all these Antidotes."

Ash started to walk back to start his journey for real when he noticed a small bit of forest to the west.

"Huh, I didn't think that Viridian Forest stretched that far south" Ash mused out loud.

He brought out his Pokedex and clicked on the map function. Then he saw that there was a direct path west out of Viridian which was one of the many routes to the Indigo League.

"Wow, I never knew about this." All the times his Mom had brought him to Viridian so she could shop and all he had been interested in had been the forest to the north as he knew it would be the way he would be travelling eventually.

"So Pikachu want to get a bit of training in over there and head out tomorrow instead?"

Pikachu thought for a second before jumping off of his shoulder and running towards what he now knew to be Route 22.

"Hey Pikachu slow down! I want to come too!" Ash laughed as he chased after his Pokemon.

Ash walked into the forest area a few minutes later while looking around in wonder. He caught up to Pikachu quickly where it had taken its place on his shoulder once again. Suddenly he saw something purple out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey Pikachu look over there! It's a Pokemon! Come on lets battle it!" Ash ran over through the bushes until he entered a small clearing where he found the purple Pokemon grazing in the centre. He brought out his Pokedex and scanned what would be his first Pokemons opponent.

**Nidoran. Poison Type. The Poison Pin Pokemon. Ability is Poison Point. This Nidoran knows the moves: Leer, Peck, Focus Energy, and Double Kick.**

"Wow! Alright Pikachu lets get ready for your first real Pokemon battle!" Ash pointed his Right arm toward Nidoran so Pikachu could jump off of his shoulder easier and shouted "Nidoran! I challenge you to a battle!"

Nidoran turned towards this human that had interrupted his meal and got into his battle stance. Ash took a deep breath and started his first Pokemon battle.

"Okay, Pikachu use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu charged forward aggressively as Nidoran just stood there waiting for it. Suddenly a beam came out of Nidorans eyes.

"Oh no that's Leer, quick Pikachu dodge it!"Ash shouted knowing that Leer lowers defense.

Pikachu jumped to the side, which interrupted his Quick Attack. Then Nidoran charged forward as his horn glowed white.

"Okay Pikachu dodge and use Thundershock and then use Quick Attack again!"

Pikachu jumped up a tree nearby and bounded over the charging Nidoran, just as Nidorans horn stopped glowing Pikachu released his electricity towards the back of his opponent. Nidoran cried its name as the electric attack coursed through his body. Then Pikachu landed and launched himself toward the hurt Pokemon, his attack landed on the unsuspecting Pokemon and fired him into the tree he jumped off of before, dealing massive damage to Nidoran.

"Nice one Pikachu! Now go Pokeball!"

Ash threw the red and white Pokeball he had bought earlier from the mart towards his exhausted opponent. The ball hit the Pokemon, startling it, and opened up enveloping it in a red beam which absorbed it into the ball.

The ball rocked from side to side as the centre of it flashed red. Ash and Pikachu looked on anxiously as they awaited the result of the battle.

Ding!

Ash looked shocked for a second but slowly his mouth morphed into a huge grin.

"Yes!" "Pika!"

"We did it! We did it! We did it!" Ash and Pikachu spun around in an awkward dance.

They went over and picked up the Pokeball of his newly caught Pokemon and smiled at it.

"I caught a Nidoran!" Ash yelled as he held it out in front of him while smiling at an invisible camera. Pikachu looked at his trainer like he was insane and then used Thundershock on him.

"What! You don't like the pose? But I worked on that pose for hours at home!" Ash yelled at his first Pokemon.

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled back while shaking his head. He then shocked Ash again.

"Aaaah, Okay, Okay I'll never do the pose again!" Ash replied hurriedly. Pikachu smiled in triumph.

"Stupid bullying Pokemon." Ash mumbled dejectedly. He recovered quickly though when he remembered that he had just caught his first Pokemon.

"You were amazing Pikachu! I would have never thought to use that tree to dodge. I'll have to remember to use that in the future!" Ash complimented his Pokemon as Pikachu shyly scratched the back of his head.

"Alright Pikachu lets look around for another hour or two and then lets head back to the city so we can have dinner. We'll spend the night in the Pokemon Center and head out to Viridian Forest first thing tomorrow morning. Okay?"

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded.

Later that Afternoon, Ash walked back out from the forest surrounding Route 22 back into Viridian City, heading toward the Pokemon Center that he had been at earlier.

"Wow Pikachu it was lucky I found out that I had a map on my Pokedex this morning or I would have gotten completely lost out there" Ash smiled at his starter.

He had trained his Pikachu and Nidoran on the route for a couple of hours and they had both done extremely well. He had to use a Potion on his Nidoran because of his battle from earlier though but it was definitely needed though so it was worth it. Pikachu hadn't managed to learn any new moves but Ash had tested out its Volt Tackle and while it seemed to hurt Pikachu when he used it, it seemed to do an amazing amount of damage to one of the Nidoran he had been training against.

His Nidoran however learnt Poison Sting which Ash used a lot against the wild Pokemon he had been battling. He wasn't heartless though, Ash didn't want the wild Pokemon he had been battling to be hurt too much so he shared one antidote across all of them so they would be okay.

"Good training session wasn't it Pikachu?" Ash asked his partner.

"Pikachu" Pikachu nodded back at him.

"Alright lets get some food and head to bed. We've got a big day tomorrow."

Ash walked into the Pokemon Center and could tell that something was different. He looked around but he just couldn't place it. He saw Nurse Joy at the counter and walked over to her.

"Hey Nurse Joy!"

"Hey Ash! Did you get Pikachu injured again?"

"I think he's only tired but my new Nidoran could use a bit of healing. He's had a tough day."

"Sure, just let me take him for a few minutes."

Ash handed over his Pokeball with Nidoran over to Nurse Joy when he just had to ask the question that wouldn't leave him.

"Hey, Nurse Joy? What's changed in here? I can't tell and its really bugging me."

"Hmm, I don't know. It looks the same to me, the construction workers did a really good job fixing this place back up to the way it was."

"Oh, Okay" Ash nodded knowing that Nurse Joy would've noticed if something had changed. Then what she had said suddenly registered with him. "Wait, What? That's it!"

Ash snapped his fingers in realisation.

"What is it Ash?"

"How did you get this place fixed up so quickly? Having to replace the whole ceiling should have taken days if not weeks to fix. At least I think so, it took builders weeks to replace a roof that had caved in from a storm in Pallet Town."

"Well, this building company had a few psychic Pokemon on them which helped to place the pieces in the correct places. They were very efficient." Nurse Joy told Ash patiently.

"Oh, that's a really smart way to use a psychic Pokemon. I wonder how that could be transferred over to battling."

Nurse Joy sighed and thought 'All these trainers think about is how to battle better, I wonder if they even know how to think about anything else.'

Ash thought about it for a couple of minutes when Nurse Joy shook him out of his trance and told him that his Nidoran was back to full health.

"Thanks Nurse Joy, could I have a room for the night please, oh and could you point me towards the canteen please."

"Of course take the second room on the right, and the canteen is just down the hall you can't miss it." Nurse Joy said whilst pointing toward the areas respectively.

"Thank you Nurse Joy."

Ash headed down towards the canteen. The canteens in the Pokemon Centers around Kanto weren't manned by any staff, it was just a place where trainers could buy ingredients from machines and then use them to make a meals for themselves and their Pokemon. Also there was an area where trainers could sit down with their Pokemon and eat.

Ash had bought some food from the mart earlier so he didn't have to make anything today, which was lucky because he honestly didn't want to cook at the moment. He sat down at a table in the corner and released his Nidoran.

Ash opened his backpack with one hand while scratching behind his Nidorans ears. He removed two bowls from his bag and emptied some food into each of them. Pikachu and Nidoran jumped onto the table and started nibbling at the food in front of them.

"I'm really proud of you two today, you both did amazing." Ash told his Pokemon as he removed his sandwiches from his bag and stared eating. "Right, Now Pikachu there is a move which you can learn which you can't learn without specific training called Iron Tail. It's a Steel Type move which will be really helpful against the Pewter City Gym, so we are going to stay in Viridian Forest until you learn it. I know you'll do great so don't worry about it too much, Okay?"

Ash finished his first sandwich and opened up the second while he thought about what he could teach Nidoran. He stopped mid-bite when he realised something.

"Hey Nidoran, how about instead of trying to teach you a new move we just make your double kick stronger. I mean there's nothing I can really teach you that you won't learn naturally through experience, for now at least. So why don't we just make your one fighting type move strong enough to face the gym leaders Rock Pokemon?"

"Nidoran!" Nidoran accepted his trainers proposal with a nod.

"Okay, we have a plan for tomorrow lets just get some sleep. Nidoran return." Ash said as he brought out Nidorans Pokeball and returned Nidoran to it.

"Come on Pikachu, lets see what our room is like."

Ash was walking back through the main hall when Nurse Joy called him over saying that he had a call from Professor Oak. He walked up to the video phone he had used to call his Mom earlier and pressed the accept button. The screen turned on and the ageing professor appeared on the screen in his usual white lap coat.

"Hey Professor Oak. What's up?"

"Hello Ash, how is your journey so far?"

"Well it started out pretty rough" Pikachu looked away, ashamed. "But now me and Pikachu are the best of buds. I even went out to Route 22 earlier and I caught a Nidoran!"

"Wow a Nidoran! What kind?"

"Um … a … purple one?"

"Ah Ash you should have looked at more information on Nidoran it comes in two varieties. The male version is purple and the female is blue. Depending on which one you have it either evolves into a Nidoking or Nidoqueen." Oak informed Ash

"Oh, okay I'll make sure I look at my Pokedex more."

"You do that young man. Now If Gary asks, you caught Nidoran before you went into Viridian City. I can't let him know that I lost a bet with him."

"Okay?"

"Good, now keep up the good work Ash. Don't rush your journey. Sometimes you see more by standing still instead of charging forward."

"I will Professor and thank you again for giving me Pikachu. I wouldn't want any other Pokemon as my starter."

"Your welcome Ash" A bell rings in the background and Professor Oak looked to the side. "Okay Ash I have to go my sushi is here!"

Professor Oak ended the call as Ash smiled at Pikachu.

"Alright Pikachu. We've had a really eventful day lets go to sleep."

"Pikachu." Pikachu yawned from his shoulder.

Ash walked to his room and put his backpack down next to the door. He locked the door and looked around at the room. It wasn't much but it was more than enough just for one person. It had a TV and a small desk and chair. A single bed took up most of the room and a door to the side led to what he assumed to be the bathroom.

He took off his jacket, trousers, hat and shoes and slipped under the covers. Pikachu had already taken up part of the bed so Ash was careful not to move too much.

"Goodnight Pikachu." Ash whispered.

"Pika" Pikachu snored.

**Okay thanks for reading people! Hopefully you enjoyed it, please don't message me asking for it to be continued as I really cannot be bothered to do it. **

**See you next time.**

**EditorFin**


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